{"id":44145,"date":"2018-04-20T21:51:33","date_gmt":"2018-04-20T21:51:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/04\/20\/soldier-who-was-kept-from-duty-was-a-naturalized-citizen-us-says\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T07:09:37","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T07:09:37","slug":"soldier-who-was-kept-from-duty-was-a-naturalized-citizen-us-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2018\/04\/20\/soldier-who-was-kept-from-duty-was-a-naturalized-citizen-us-says\/","title":{"rendered":"Soldier who died waiting for US military to clear him for duty was a naturalized citizen, officials say"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Spc. Nemanja \u201cYani\u201d Janicijevic, 25, an immigrant soldier who died last week while waiting 11 months<a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2018\/04\/19\/immigrant-soldier-dies-waiting-for-us-military-to-clear-him-to-serve\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\"> for the military to clear him for duty<\/a>, had been naturalized months before and was a U.S. citizen, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services told Military Times Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The news of Janicijevic\u2019s U.S. citizenship raised even more questions around a puzzling and tragic end for a U.S. soldier who spent 336 days in limbo at Fort Lee, Virginia, starting after his May 2017 graduation from advanced individual training and continuing until the day of his death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There were no answers yet as to what bureaucratic failure kept Janicijevic from moving on to his duty station in Germany.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Janicijevic died April 12 during a PT session on the athletic track at Fort Lee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Army\u2019s Combined Arms Support Command has launched a 15-6 investigation into the cause of his death, a base spokesman confirmed Friday. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Janicijevic, who was born in Belgrade, Serbia, and came to the U.S. as a teenager, joined the military under the Military Accessions Vital to National Interest, or MAVNI, program. The program allows non-U.S. citizens with critical foreign language or medical skills to enlist and earn U.S. citizenship. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">MAVNI was suspended in 2016, and no new applicants were accepted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That left Janicijevic in limbo as a \u201choldover.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In October 2017, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis announced the program would add more security checks that an applicant would have to go through before they could pursue citizenship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By that point, however, Janicijevic was already a U.S. citizen. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services confirmed he was naturalized in March 2017. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1080\" height=\"1440\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/FB_IMG_15238053783008101.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-9621\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/FB_IMG_15238053783008101.jpg.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/FB_IMG_15238053783008101.jpg.jpg?resize=225,300 225w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/FB_IMG_15238053783008101.jpg.jpg?resize=768,1024 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1080px) 100vw, 1080px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Slobodan Janicijevic and his son, Nemanja \u201cYani\u201d Janicijevic, when Yani was a high school sophomore in Maryland. (Family photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For unknown reasons, Janicijevic was still evaluated under the MAVNI program, which meant that while his fellow soldiers graduated from AIT and went on to report to their duty stations in South Korea, Kuwait and all over the world, Janicijevic was left behind. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Because of the new security guidelines, Janicijevic was not allowed to depart to do the job he\u2019d been trained to do, which was to serve as a diagnostic equipment support specialist with the 832nd Ordnance Battalion, 59th Ordnance Brigade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Instead he waited for the military to finish checking his background under enhanced vetting procedures for foreign recruits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There was no clear explanation by the Pentagon or the Army on Friday as to why Janicijevic was left at Fort Lee, and no answers yet as to whether officials within the Office of the Secretary of Defense had even started to process the additional screening requirements for Janicijevic \u2014 or why they would have even had to do that since he was already a U.S. citizen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><b>\u2018Why do I alone wait?\u2019<\/b><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the months before his death, Janicijevic confided to his father that he was struggling. He didn\u2019t understand why the military was not allowing him to leave Fort Lee. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt was not good for his psyche,\u201d said his father, Slobodan Janicijevic, who had retired as a colonel in the Serbian Air Force and was proud of his son\u2019s military path. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Slobodan Janicijevic said Yani told him he went to his commander and asked, \u201cWhy I wait? Why do I alone wait?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The father advised his son not to make a further fuss about it: Don\u2019t jeopardize your military future. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI said, \u2018Oh, my son, be quiet, you will. My boy, you will get the papers. You will go to Germany,\u2019\u201d Slobodan Janicijevic said in broken sobs over the phone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"479\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/IMG-984e73c0b056fc44e7a4854963ed25d1-V.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-9595\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/IMG-984e73c0b056fc44e7a4854963ed25d1-V.jpg.jpg 640w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/IMG-984e73c0b056fc44e7a4854963ed25d1-V.jpg.jpg?resize=300,225 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Slobodan Janicijevic retired as a colonel from the Serbian Air Force and was excited fro his son&#8217;s military career. (Family photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Janicijevic came to the U.S. as a 13-year-old to pursue basketball at several Maryland private high schools, said his U.S. guardians, Joseph and Kathleen Jacob.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The couple had sponsored or hosted many other foreign students in their Manchester, Maryland, home over the last 20 years, but none as young as \u201cYani,\u201d as he was known to his friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Janicijevic moved in with the Jacob family during his freshman year of high school and became family to them. He \u201cwas just fascinated with America,\u201d Joseph Jacob said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Jacobs remained Janicijevic\u2019s primary caretakers as he graduated from high school, tried some college, and then decided to join the U.S. military.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Kathleen Jacob was a baker, so they would send Janicijevic and his fellow soldiers banana breads and lemon cakes. They last saw him on Easter, when they drove to visit him at Fort Lee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The wait \u201cwas really rough for him,\u201d Joseph Jacob said. \u201cHe finally got to the point where he just kind of accepted it. But he was crushed. He kind of felt like he was being punished because he was Serbian. He said he would be taunted that he was Russian.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"> A few months before his death, Janicijevic obtained his first U.S. passport, which was one of his proudest possessions, both his father and the Jacobs said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><b>More questions<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Friday, there was a memorial service at Fort Lee for Janicijevic. The Jacobs were there, as was one of Janicijevic\u2019s sisters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Slobodan Janicijevic said once the military completes its investigation into the cause of death and releases the body, the family will bury him in Serbia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That journey, however, has raised additional questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Slobodan Janicijevic said official notification was only provided to Janicijevic\u2019s biological mother in Serbia; she and Slobodan are divorced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Slobodan Janicijevic, who does not speak perfect English and may have misunderstood, has also said the U.S. Embassy in Belgrade has informed him they will have to front the costs for their son\u2019s transfer and burial, and then the embassy will reimburse the family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Friday the State Department said due to privacy concerns they may not be able to comment on the specifics of Janicijevic\u2019s arrangement, then referred the matter to the Defense Department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This week, Slobodan Janicijevic purchased a plot in a Belgrade cemetery. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhen my boy comes home we will have his burial,\u201d he said, sobbing. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Army specialist was stuck at Fort Lee while he waited for immigration security vetting \u2014 even after he became a U.S. citizen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":9612,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":65,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,12,26,62,65],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3342],"class_list":["post-44145","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-news","category-newsletters","category-pentagon-congress","category-your-navy"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"2PQMGPXCBFFP3KRPVUQKUP4YUQ","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-military\/2018\/04\/20\/soldier-who-was-kept-from-duty-was-a-naturalized-citizen-us-says\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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